Train Station Just Wasteful Foolishness

The usual suspects were on hand for the train station ground breaking. The happy looks on these politicians faces would almost make you think they were spending their own money.

When was the last time you did it?

There was a time when husbands and wives did it frequently.

Lovers thought it was incredibly romantic to do over and over again.

Sometimes they did it all night long and from city to city.

When was the last time you did it?

Ride the train, that is.

Mayor Paul A. Dyster and his chief planner, Thomas DeSantis, made news last week as they broke ground for the city's $45 million train station. DeSantis likes to talk planner talk and the mayor likes to support such corruption of the English language such as calling the train station "the inter-modal transportation center," but hey, it's a train station, folks.

A federally-funded boondoggle dedicated to an outmoded form of transportation can be called by any name, but we know what it really is: a costly project to satisfy the vast egos of Mayor Dyster and his chief pyramid builder…I mean inter-modal transportation center builder, Tom DeSantis.

In Niagara Falls, with Dyster and DeSantis at the helm, we're going back in time. We are, after all, often referred to as "Niagara Falls, the land that time forgot."

Some critics say the mayor is building the train station to quench his childhood wish to be a railroad engineer.

So, to bring the point home, please stop reading right here, turn to your friend, your spouse, your significant other or whoever is sitting or standing near you and ask: When was the last time you rode a train?

When you traveled to Disney World, did you take a train? When you went to Vegas for the weekend getaway, did you take a train? When you went to DC to chaperone your children's school outing, did you ride the train? When you went to New York City with your friends to catch a Yankee, game did you take the train? When you and your girlfriends shopped the Big Apple for the holidays, was it by train?

So, who is taking the train and, more importantly, who is going to be taking the train to Niagara Falls?

The $45 million to build the Dyster train station could have gone toward further development of the Niagara Falls International Airport. It could have gone toward road and highway improvement so that our visitors would have a smooth, safe stay instead of pothole-filled roadways.

There are few places in America where roads are in poorer condition.

But rather than spend our tax dollars wisely, Dyster and DeSantis are building an outmoded transportation monument to themselves.

Yes, we are indeed fortunate that Mayor Dyster never dreamt of becoming an astronaut.